Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 102
A prayer of the weak and oppressed, when he turns his complaints to the Eternal.
1 Hear me, O Eternal One, hear my prayer!
Hear my lonely desperate cry for help.
2 Do not hide from me
when my days are filled with anguish;
Lend Your ear to my wailing,
and answer me quickly when I call.
3 For my days come and go, vanishing like smoke,
and my bones are charred like bricks of a hearth.
4 My heart is beaten down like grass withered and scorched in the summer heat;
I can’t even remember to eat.
5 My body is shaken by my groans;
my bones cling to my skin, holding on for dear life.
6 I am like a solitary owl in the wilderness;
I am a lost and lonely screech owl at home in the rubble.
7 I stare at the ceiling, awake in my bed;
I am alone, a defenseless sparrow perched on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies chide me;
those who mock me spit out my name as a curse.
9 For ashes have become my bread;
my tears fall into my drink
10 Because of the depth of Your wrath.
You have brought me up
and then hurled me aside.
11 My days go by like a long shadow—stretched thin and disappearing—
I shrivel up like grass baked in the hot sun.
12 But You, O Eternal One, remain forever,
and Your name endures to all generations.
13 You will rise up once again and remember Your love for Zion;
it is time to have mercy on Your city;
yes, it is the divinely appointed time.
14 Your faithful servants take pleasure in her every stone;
they even delight in the dust of her streets.
15 Days are coming when nations will tremble at the name of the Eternal;
all the rulers of the earth will bow down to Your glory.
16 For He will return to rebuild His city, Zion;
He will be seen in His splendor.
17 He will listen to the prayer of the impoverished
and welcome their prayers.
18 Let this record be kept for posterity
so that people not yet born may praise the Eternal.
19 Tell them that He looked down from holy heights, His heavenly sanctuary;
the Eternal looked down from heaven and closely watched the earth,
20 Hearing the prisoners’ groans—
releasing those awaiting execution—
21 That the name of the Eternal would resound in Zion,
and His praise would be proclaimed in Jerusalem
22 When the peoples gather
and the nations’ leaders assemble to worship the Eternal.
23 Along my way He has sapped my strength;
He has shortened my days here on earth.
24 I said, “O my True God, don’t take me away
in the middle of my life;
Unlike me, Your years continually unfold
throughout all generations.”
25 In the beginning, You laid the foundation of the earth
and set the skies above us with Your own hands.
26 But while they will someday pass away, You remain forever;
when they wear out like old clothes,
You will roll them up and change them into something new, and they will pass away.
27 But You are the same, You will never change;
Your years will never come to an end.[a]
28 The children of those who serve You will enjoy a good, long life;
their offspring will stand strong before You.
Book Five
Book Five (Psalms 107–150) succinctly presents many of the major themes of the previous psalms. It tracks along Israel’s history as God’s nation, from the united monarchy, through the exile, to the restoration. Psalm 107 is a song of thanksgiving composed by those who survived exile and made their way home. As in Isaiah, the return from exile is described as a new exodus. Three Davidic psalms toward the beginning of Book Five represent the monarchy and recall Israel’s golden age. The Songs for the Journey to Worship (Psalm 120–134) are composed for use by God’s people as they traveled from their homes up to Zion to worship God at the temple. Representing their time in exile are songs of lament, heartbreaking testimonies to individuals’ pain when they are crushed by their enemies and separated from God’s blessings. Finally, Book Five concludes the collection by offering praise and thanks to God, for the story of Israel does not end with its exile and separation; rather, it ends in restoration and hope. Those who edited and compiled the Book of Psalms were relieved to be back in the land of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—rebuilding their temple and reestablishing their connection with God.
Psalm 107
1 Erupt with thanks to the Eternal, for He is good
and His loyal love lasts forever.
2 Let all those redeemed by the Eternal—
those rescued from times of deep trouble—join in giving thanks.
3 He has gathered them across the earth,
from east and west,
from [north and south].[a]
4 Some drifted around in the desert
and found no place where they could live.
5 Their bellies growled with hunger; their mouths were dry with thirst;
their souls grew weak and weary.
6 In their distress, they called out to the Eternal,
and He saved them from their misery.
7 He showed them the best path; then He led them down the right road
until they arrived at an inhabited town.
8 May they erupt with praise and give thanks to the Eternal
in honor of His loyal love
And all the wonders He has performed for humankind!
9 He has quenched their thirst,
and He has satisfied their hunger with what is good.
10 Some people were locked up in dark prisons, confined in gloom as bleak as death.
They were captives bound by iron chains and misery,
11 All because they had rebelled against the directives of the True God
and had rejected the wisdom of the Most High.
12 So they suffered the heaviness of slave labor;
when they stumbled and fell, there was no one to help them up.
13 In their distress, they called out to the Eternal;
He saved them from their misery.
14 He rescued them from the darkness, delivered them from the deepest gloom of death;
He shattered their iron chains.
15 May they erupt with praise and give thanks to the Eternal
in honor of His loyal love
And all the wonders He has performed for humankind!
16 He has broken down the bronze gates
and severed the iron bars that imprisoned them.
17 Some people became fools infected by their rebellious ways,
and sickness followed because of their sins.
18 Afflicted and weak, they refused any sort of food
as they approached the gates of death.
19 In their distress, they called out to the Eternal,
and He saved them from their misery.
20 He gave the order and healed them
and rescued them from certain death.
21 May they erupt with praise and give thanks to the Eternal
in honor of His loyal love
And all the wonders He has performed for humankind!
22 Let them present to Him thanksgiving sacrifices
and tell stories of His great deeds through songs of joy.
23 Some set out to sea in ships,
traveling across mighty seas in order to trade in foreign lands.
24 They witnessed the powerful acts of the Eternal,
marveled at the great wonders He revealed over the deep waters.
25 For He spoke and summoned a violent wind
that whipped up the waves of the sea.
26 Relentless waves lifted the ships high in the sky, then drove them down to the depths;
the sailors’ courage dissolved into misery.
27 They staggered and stumbled around like drunkards,
and they had no idea what to do.
28 In their distress, they called out to the Eternal,
and He saved them from their misery.
29 He commanded the storm to calm down, and it became still.
A hush came over the waves of the sea,
30 The sailors were delighted at the quiet,
and He guided them to their port.
31 May they erupt with praise and give thanks to the Eternal
in honor of His loyal love
And all the wonders He has performed for humankind!
32 Let them glorify Him in the assembly of His people
and worship Him in the presence of the elders.
20 After the Israelites, the whole group of them, journeyed into the Zin Wilderness during the first month, they set up camp in Kadesh. And it was there that Miriam died and was buried.
2 They ran out of water and again blamed their leaders, Moses and Aaron.
Israelites (arguing with Moses): 3 It would have been so much better if we had simply died along with the rest of our relatives, Korah, Abiram, and Dathan, right in front of the Eternal One.[a] 4-5 Why in the world would you drag us, the Eternal’s own group, out of Egypt into this wilderness where we’ll soon die and our livestock too? And there aren’t any grains, figs, grapes, or pomegranates, and there isn’t even any water!
Will these people never learn? But why should they be any different than the rest of us? We all tend to forget God’s provision, and we focus on the challenge before us. God has been leading them through a region full of challenges. You would think that after 40 years of daily provision from God in the wilderness these people would quit fearing the worst, especially since they have already gone through this very same experience once before—when they came out of Egypt in Exodus 17. Unfortunately, Moses doesn’t follow God’s instruction just as it is delivered to him, so he, too, is unfaithful. Instead of “provision” or “water-of-plenty,” the place is known as Meribah (“rebellion”). They are to remember their lack of faith and their active rebellion against God their savior every time they mention this place.
6 After hearing them out, Moses and Aaron walked away. At the congregation tent’s opening, they collapsed to the ground, interceding for the people. Then and there, the Eternal’s glory shone for them to see, 7 and He spoke to Moses.
Eternal One: 8 You and Aaron grab the staff before the covenant chest, gather the whole group so that all the people can see and hear you, and speak to the rock. Tell it to release its water for them to use. In this way, you’ll get water from the rock for everyone to drink, including all the animals.
9 So Moses did that. He took the staff just as God told him to do. 10 Then he and his brother gathered all the people in front of the rock.
Moses (to the Israelites): Listen up, you rebellious lot. Should we get water for you from this rock?
11 And as he spoke, Moses raised his hand and hit the rock—once, twice—and immediately the water came gushing out. All drank their fill, people and animals alike. 12 But the Eternal One scolded Moses and Aaron for their actions.
Eternal One: Because you didn’t trust Me and treat Me as holy before the Israelites, you will not lead this group into the land I have given them.
13 Because at this spot the Israelites rebelled against the Eternal and the display of His holiness, the water here is called Meribah, which means “rebellion.”
12 Consider this: sin entered our world through one man, Adam; and through sin, death followed in hot pursuit. Death spread rapidly to infect all people on the earth as they engaged in sin.
God’s gift of grace and salvation is amazing. Paul struggles to find the words to describe it. He looks everywhere around him to find a metaphor, an image, a word to put into language one aspect of this awesome gift. One of those is “reconciliation.” There is hardly anything more beautiful than to see two people who have been enemies or estranged or separated coming back together. When Paul reflects on what God has done through Jesus, he thinks about reconciliation. Before we receive God’s blessing through His Son, we are enemies of God, sinners of the worst sort. But God makes the first move to restore us to a right relationship with Him.
13 Before God gave the law, sin existed, but there was no way to account for it. Outside the law, how could anyone be charged and found guilty of sin? 14 Still, death plagued all humanity from Adam to Moses, even those whose sin was of a different sort than Adam’s. You see, in God’s plan, Adam was a prototype of the One who comes to usher in a new day. 15 But the free gift of grace bears no resemblance to Adam’s crime that brings a death sentence to all of humanity; in fact, it is quite the opposite. For if the one man’s sin brings death to so many, how much more does the gift of God’s radical grace extend to humanity since Jesus the Anointed offered His generous gift. 16 His free gift is nothing like the scourge of the first man’s sin. The judgment that fell because of one false step brought condemnation, but the free gift following countless offenses results in a favorable verdict—not guilty. 17 If one man’s sin brought a reign of death—that’s Adam’s legacy—how much more will those who receive grace in abundance and the free gift of redeeming justice reign in life by means of one other man—Jesus the Anointed.
18 So here is the result: as one man’s sin brought about condemnation and punishment for all people, so one man’s act of faithfulness makes all of us right with God and brings us to new life. 19 Just as through one man’s defiant disobedience every one of us were made sinners, so through the willing obedience of the one man many of us will be made right.
20 When the law came into the picture, sin grew and grew; but wherever sin grew and spread, God’s grace was there in fuller, greater measure. No matter how much sin crept in, there was always more grace. 21 In the same way that sin reigned in the sphere of death, now grace reigns through God’s restorative justice, eclipsing death and leading to eternal life through the Anointed One, Jesus our Lord, the Liberating King.
29 So finally Jesus and His disciples left Jericho and headed for Jerusalem; and, of course, a large crowd followed them. 30 Two blind men, sitting on the roadside, heard the crowd approaching with Jesus.
Two Blind Men: Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!
31 The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted louder.
Two Blind Men: Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!
Jesus (taking the two blind men aside): 32 What is it that you want, brothers?
Two Blind Men: 33 Lord, we want to see.
34 Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and so they followed Him.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.